The crossroads where East meets West is a dangerous place. The encounters that occur at this cultural intersection can be dynamic and exciting, but they are rarely smooth.
This controversial question is too broad in scope to be satisfactorily answered in a few short paragraphs, but perhaps I can provide some food for thought while organizing my own ideas.
Any Westerner who has spent some time in Japan will have heard this one. It goes like this: the Japanese native will point out that Japan has four seasons! This is usually followed by a long pause while the Western guest waits for the punch line ...